


sleepy as the south

by parishilton



Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: Age Play, Daddy Kink, Diapers, Frottage, Humiliation, Infantilism, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Polyamory, Watersports
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2017-12-14 22:29:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parishilton/pseuds/parishilton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>but this is one thing louis doesn't want him to find out and he doesn't want harry to ask anymore, because eventually he's just going to spit it out and that's the last thing he wants to do, is put harry in that awful position of having to pretend knowing his best mate pees his pants like a toddler doesn't make him uncomfortable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. part one

**Author's Note:**

> title from "something to do with my hands" by her space holiday.

at some point during the time when they announce a world tour in the middle of a world tour louis starts to lose control of himself. it's small things at first, barely noticeable. at first he thinks his bladder issues are just a freak accident or two, a once in a lifetime embarrassing mistake. but after three weeks of hiding the pairs of boxer briefs he keeps on him at all times now he has to rethink this and really evaluate what's wrong with this picture.

he thinks maybe he has a bladder infection or something else in that general geography down there - a kidney stone? louis doesn't much about anything medical besides the fact that screaming girls almost made him go deaf once. but at least he knows the reasoning behind that. and it's not like he's going to go to some random doctor out of his own country and trust them not to go spreading word about town that louis tomlinson of one direction has been wetting his trousers once a day for weeks now.

it's not the kind of headline that will sell tickets or merch or those stupid little dolls. louis paces alone in his hotel room, aggressively pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to think of some kind of explanation.

harry ends up telling him it's the stress and lack of sleep that's making him moody, but louis doesn't understand - they've been under stress and going without a proper night's sleep for two years, so what's the difference now? he's only told harry a tiny bit of it - just the problems falling asleep and having to wee more than usual, not the accidents, not the increased amount of laundry he has to do in tiny, cramped laundromats, trying to shield the yellow stains from the wandering eyes of french thirty-somethings.

louis can't go on like this, has nightmares about pissing himself on stage and everybody laughing at him and taking pictures. he wakes up so distressed he stays online all night googling his options. he finds forums of people asking what to do when their elderly parents lose control of their bladders.

the responses are always either to buy them diapers or put them in a nursing home.

louis can't go to a nursing home at twenty-one fucking years old and he sure as hell isn't going to walk into a shop to buy diapers alone, for god's sakes. how could he explain that to the paps? he hasn't got a kid or an old grandpa and even if he did they sure as fuck didn't accompany him on tour.

louis feels helpless and small and scared and every night he goes on stage with trembling thighs and a shaky voice. he keeps his head up as best as he can, though, because the tour is nearing a close.

* * *

 

the relief of being back home is short-lived. when he showers it feels wrong - like he should be taking a bath or something, but - that's just ridiculous. he's a grown man and he hasn't sat in his own dirty bathtub water since he was probably ten or eleven and he doesn't plan on picking it back up a decade later.

one night louis showers slow, it's the only way he can now without getting tired and needing to sit down. he barely has the strength to rub the shampoo into his own head and when it gets into his ears he can only clumsily bat at his head before he gives up and decides to wash the rest out in the sink.

he shuts off the water and steps out naked, crooks his head under the sink faucet and tries his best to get the leftover shampoo out. he slips on a pair of snug boxer briefs and baggy gray sweatpants and stumbles into the living room to sit with harry for a bit before bed.

he's quieter than usual and harry keeps side-eyeing him and knocking his shoulder gently into louis', asking for louis to explain himself silently. finally, he sighs and shuts the tv off, then sits cross-legged beside louis and waits patiently for him to begin talking.

"harry, don't give me that look," louis begs.

"what looks it that?" harry hedges.

louis sighs deeply, ducking his head. "like you're my mother or something, i don't know."

harry grabs louis' knee reassuringly. "you're not hurt are you? is there something serious going on here?" louis just stares at his bare feet pressed up into harry's shins. "is it insomnia? can we make you an appointment somewhere?" harry takes out his phone quickly, fingers hurriedly moving across the screen. "wonder if there's a specialist in that place niall went to for his leg," he mutters passively.

"haz, stop." louis knocks harry's phone out of his hand and into his lap. "look, it's too embarrassing to talk about right now."

harry cinches his eyebrows. biting his lip, he scowls like he's hurt louis won't tell him. "need i remind you that you've seen me run starkers through a hotel hallway at four in the morning?"

louis forces a reassuring smile. "it's just some malfunctioning bits downstairs, really, i'm sure it'll work itself out."

"so -" harry starts, confused. "you can't get it up? i didn't know you were seeing any-"

"not my dick, harry, christ." louis snorts. "that's not even embarrassing compared to this."

harry's hair looks greasy as he runs a hand through it, getting stuck in a knot halfway through and having to tug it out. he's properly dirty, had gone out all day to the gym alone and now he just smells like sweat. louis has always felt a little tug with harry, something more than just the protection he feels over the other boys. with harry it sort of chokes him up sometimes, just a bit, trying to not tell him all his secrets.

he cuddles with harry quite a lot, eats breakfast with him every morning, sleeps in the bunk above harry on the tour bus every night. sometimes he forgets he doesn't owe harry every secret, although it feels like harry's just an extention of himself at this point. louis says things without thinking because talking to harry is like talking to himself, except he gets a better reaction from harry.

but this is one thing louis doesn't want him to find out and he doesn't want harry to ask anymore, because eventually he's just going to spit it out and that's the last thing he wants to do, is put harry in that awful position of having to pretend knowing his best mate pees his pants like a toddler doesn't make him uncomfortable.

harry presses his lips together in a firm line, sucks his cheeks in. "i don't care if it's weird, i don't like the privacy. is that bad? i want you to know all my thoughts and i want to know all of your's."

"that's - weird, yeah. definitely."

harry glances away, absently looking down the hallway. "i thought we were a little different, though, than you and zayn or me and nick-"

louis winces at the mention of nick. "we are, i'm sorry."

harry nods slowly. "whenever you're ready, then. i promise i won't laugh, whatever it is."

"how can you possibly promise that?"

"lou, c'mon," harry starts, cheeks going pink. "you could become a serial killer tomorrow and off thirty people and i would forgive you. whatever it is, we'll deal with it."

louis nods, a small smile playing across his lips. "same to you, just so you know. not that you would ever murder anyone, sweetheart, you're too much of a softy."

harry swats his knee, then laughs in a hoarse voice. "alright, get to bed. i'm going to stay up and finish watching this movie."

normally louis would fight the request, out of at least audacity alone. he's not good with commands or even gentle suggestions, to be honest. he hates being told what to do, but when it's harry he sometimes he makes an exception. anyway, harry doesn't mean to take advantage of him, he's just looking out for him.

louis crawls into bed, drowsy and feeling like maybe, if he has no other option, if this doesn't stop on it's own, he might be able to tell harry.

* * *

 

 

he wakes up a couple hours later, his bedroom pitch black and the door closed. he has no idea why he woke up until he goes to roll over in bed to go back to bed when he feels the dampness under him.

there's a very strong, sharp feeling of shame and disgust that washes over him as he realizes what's happened. he quickly jumps out of bed, peeling back his blankets in an effort to get to his sheets. the idea of changing all his blankets when he's so groggy sounds awful, but he can't just leave them in a heap on the floor. he gets a bundle of sheets and blankets in his arms as he pads barefoot down the hall and to the washing machine.

he's shoving down the blankets into the washing machine angrily, trying to make them all fit. he's angry at himself even though, realistically, he knows it's not his fault, and he's angry for being awake when he's so tired. he's ready to punch something by the time somebody grabs his shoulder in the dark.

"hey, what are you doing back up?" harry asks, concerned. he doesn't even look tired, must have not gone to bed yet. the lights are all turned off, though, and louis is too jumpy from being scared to yell at him.

louis shakes his head, turning his back on harry. "just - washing some things." he tries to block the protruding mess of his comforter and all the sheets from showing, but harry squeaks in next to him, stuck between louis and the wall.

"here," he says softly, reaching for the sheets, "just do the comforter because that's more important, you have extra sheets." he's moved so fast that by the time louis realizes it's too late. harry holds them up, not paying attention until his hand moves inside the folds, his face pulling down in confusion. "did you spill something?"

louis just stands there gaping, eyes wide. he wants to sink into the ground or turn invisible or at least to be able to think of a convincing response.

"louis?" harry waits patiently, tilting his head to one side. slowly, he squints in the dark at louis. "oh," he says suddenly, like he's in pain. "i - let's wash those too, then."

louis pauses, confused. when he finally understands, the humiliation is ten times worse. he immediately turns away from harry, angry tears welling up in his eyes. there's a big, dark wet spot over his dick, weighing the sweatpants down so they stick to his skin worse than sweat would. and that's what louis had figured it was when he felt it getting out of bed.

"take them off," harry says in a tone that speaks of finality. louis can feel harry's eyes on his back and he slips off his sweatpants and lets them pool at his ankles. he kicks them off and goes to shove them in the washer too, but harry's hand grabs his wrist and pries the pants out of his death grip.

"harry," louis begs, but harry is already laying them out flat and pulling something out of the cabinet above his head. it's a little sprayer cleaning bottle of some kind.

"don't worry," harry says softly, "used to help gemma get blood stains out of her stuff all the time."

louis gapes at harry's turned back. "you're not - disgusted or -"

harry turns around, temporarily forgetting about the pants, and his expression falls when he sees louis' glassy eyes. "course not. but is this the thing you couldn't tell me?" he shuffles closer like he's going to hug louis, but louis can feel his boxer briefs stuck indecently to his dick with piss and he quickly keeps harry back with one hand pressed firmly against harry's chest.

"i'm all gross, don't come any closer," louis warns him, palm flat on harry's bare chest.

"you're not gross at all, you're just wet," harry promises, sighing. "is that what you think?"

louis shakes his head in disbelief. "i think you're inhaling too many fumes from the dirty laundry."

harry makes another pained expression and then moves in to hug louis again, but he pushes harry back, shying away from him. harry finally uses his height to his advantage and settles for leaning down to kiss louis' forehead. louis scrunches his nose up, still wanting to sink into the floor.

"why don't you go to bed and let me do this?" harry says.

louis flinches. "no, that's - i could never-"

"fine," harry murmurs. "then you can do this while i put clean sheets on your bed." he leaves louis to finish spraying over his sweatpants while he's standing still in his wet briefs, stuck down to his thighs like glue. harry comes up behind him making virtually no noise at all and wraps him up in a blanket and then gestures him back down the hall to bed.

"i'm sorry," louis whispers. he can't look at harry.

"for not going to bed when i told you to the first time?" harry asks with a gentle expression. "you should be."

louis bites the inside of his cheek and quickly walks down to his room where he can bang his head against the wall and figure out a way to move out of the flat without harry noticing.

* * *

 

"was that the first time it's happened in the night?" harry asks him carefully the next morning, sitting across from louis at the breakfast table. 

louis curls in on himself, wincing. "i - yes."

"but it's happened a lot before?"

louis just nods. "i thought i had a bladder infection at first."

he's never felt so violated and it's only harry, for god's sakes. he shouldn't feel this uncomfortable, but it's so private he can feel his stomach churning at the thought of someone else knowing.

"how did you hide it for so long?"

louis sighs. "just brought along extra underwear."

"everywhere you went?" harry asks, voice going deeper.

louis' face scrunches up like he's just bitten a lemon. he can't keep listening to these questions or he's going to die on the spot.

"maybe we could get you a mattress pad," harry suggests.

"fuck off," louis snaps. "it's not -" he fumes. "it's not funny."

"i don't think it is," harry promises. "just, until we can get you an appointment somewhere-"

"no way, harry. look, i'm so sorry you had to see that last night, but - i can't tell some stranger about this. i can barely deal with knowing _you_ know."

"but i'm special, right?" he asks quietly. "you trust me?"

"yeah, but just because you know doesn't mean you get to play doctor now, okay? i'm not going to indulge myself with a fucking mattress pad, okay? if anything it's just going to happen again if i do because - because i'll feel like it's okay and it's not."

"maybe that's why, lou. maybe it's your body's way of telling you that you need a break."

"can we please just talk about something else, this is humiliating," louis begs. "don't make me find an excuse to leave, because i don't want to."

harry sighs and runs a hand roughly through his bed head, scrubbing his face over with one hand. "alright. but if it happens again i'm buying you one whether you like it or not. you'll stain your mattress otherwise."

"harry, we're millionaires. i can buy another mattress."

"every other week?" harry asks.

louis is never going to live this down. even if it stops in a day he's still going to be thinking about this and twitching in discomfort when he's eighty. 

* * *

 

it does happen again - two days later. he cleans up the mess by himself and is fiercely glad harry isn't awake this time. but he's so tired he forgets to get up early and empty the dryer so harry ends up finding his newly cleaned sheets there and knows anyway.

he doesn't tell louis, but he orders a protective mattress pad online and it comes to their door within twenty-four hours. louis is humiliated because this means harry must have gotten rush shipping. did he really think louis wouldn't be able to control himself for more than one night?

harry doesn't even mention it, probably because he knows louis is sick of having to clean everything all the time and will eventually put it on his bed himself. he's right, actually, and he does use it.

it's made of all slippery plastic like old people use to cover up their furniture with and louis is too exhausted by the time he's got it fitted so it won't slip off his bed that he gets under his covers without putting his sheets back on first.

it takes him forever to fall asleep and when he wakes up a couple hours later the back of his thighs are wet and warm, coated in piss. he sits up in his mess, bum getting wetter then it already is as he scooches down to get out of bed.

"shit," he yelps, as some of his blankets drag through it as it runs in all different directions across the plastic.

his bedroom door creaks open slowly and harry's head pokes through. "everything alright?"

louis doesn't know what to say. he shakes his head.

"well, get back into bed. we'll wipe it down tomorrow. good thing it's plastic."

louis doesn't know what comes over him, doesn't know if it's the casual way harry addresses it like he expected louis to mess up again, but suddenly he's on the floor leaning against his bed crying into his hands. harry rushes over to him and is rubbing his back with one of his huge hands, the other resting on his knee.

"i can't even control my own body," louis cries. "why is this happening?"

he hates feeling this vulnerable, although harry must have cried in front of louis at least a dozen times before.

"ssh," harry soothes.

he helps louis off the floor and sets him on the slippery mattress pad, sitting beside him and sighing heavily. "i wish there was something i could do."

louis sniffles miserably, feeling like a fucking child, letting harry push him so he's laying flat on his back with his thighs back in their wet spot. harry hugs him while half on top of him, pressing quick little kisses on his cheek.

as much as he feels terrible harry is laying on the mattress pad that he wet the bed on, he clings to harry for dear life, doesn't want him to leave. harry only squeezes tighter, rubbing one hand up and down louis' arm comfortingly.

he rocks louis in a hug slowly back and forth and louis doesn't fight it at all, just buries his head in harry's neck and finally stops crying. but harry's hips are pressed into louis' and when he rocks louis back and forth louis' toes curl. he can't help it, he's just so tired and too upset to focus on not feeling anything, but harry won't stop pressing himself closer.

louis whimpers and he's afraid he'll come in his wet briefs if harry doesn't stop soon. but harry figures it out when a sharp squeak comes out of louis' throat when he experimentally pushes his hips down.

"shit," harry says. "is this okay or should i not do that again?"

louis makes a fist around harry's tee shirt and tugs at him to keep going, blushing furiously in the dark as he cants his hips up miserably, ready to start crying again. he doesn't know what's wrong with him, he hasn't gotten off like this is years, but he feels like he can't hold it back.

harry moves his arms so his elbows balance him above louis, pulling sharply on the plastic edge of the mattress pad so he slides against louis, close and warm. louis whimpers and spreads his legs apart, feeling harry settle himself there and rut against him through his trousers.

harry's weight is so heavy on top of him that he feels him everywhere and he kind of loves that he can't move, can't stop feeling how wet his briefs are. they slide half off of the back of his ass while harry grips his mattress pad to grind into him so hard louis chokes on a moan and winds his arms tightly across the small of harry's back to get even closer.

louis feels harry between his wet thighs, fucking in between them. his trousers are getting wetter in the front from how soaking wet louis' briefs are, so slimy they're ready to fall off of his hips now. but before they do, harry gently lifts louis' legs so his knees are pressed to his chest and it's so much all at once louis is shaking and shaking and harry finally comes still rocking into louis through his aftershocks with his hands still using the mattress to grind into louis.

they don't talk about it explicitly, but louis is pretty sure something about that night had turned harry on. he wasn't sure if it was how vulnerable louis made himself, but he was positive it couldn't have been the piss, because - that's just insane. there's no way.


	2. part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "well, i'm having sex with both you and nick and it's only a matter of time before the two of you sleep together. i just figured that eventually we would be a sort of - unit, you know? like-"
> 
> "like what?" louis gasps. "like polygamy? like the mormons?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as of right now, there will probably be four parts in total to this story, but it's not set in stone. the first part mostly focused on harry/louis, this part mostly focuses on louis/nick, the third harry/nick, and the fourth, all three of them as a group.

louis knows harry is turning this into something like a game, some kind of mindfuck, when he only becomes more and more gentle about all of louis' accidents. it's as if every time louis wets the bed he's happier and happier, but louis is most certainly _not_ happy with it. in fact, the morning after his incident with harry was downright mortifying. he felt so awful about seeing how wet harry's underwear was because of louis and how bad the blankets smelt of piss that he had to cover his eyes with his hands and tug at his hair roughly to get the guilt out of his head.

but harry woke up with a lazy yawn and, upon seeing the mess louis had made and remembering the events prior, went pink and giggled. he thought it was _funny?_ louis felt his heart pang in his chest, climbing out of bed, so blind with embarrassment he couldn't even think, but harry roughly yanked him back beside him.

"where are you going?"

"nowhere, god." louis covers up his face with his hands again. "don't you ever leave? haven't you got any groceries to get or - radio people to infatuate?"

harry frowns. "it's saturday. nobody's at the studio."

"well, go see nick at home, then." louis pulls the blankets up over his face. he can't do this right now. his head is swimming with a million pent up emotions and all of them are screaming at louis to be anywhere but next to harry.

"am i bothering you?" harry asks, trying to snatch the blanket away from louis. when he fails, he grumpily elbows his way under it as well and blinks up at louis, scooting down until his gigantic feet are a foot off the bottom of the bed.

louis groans. "you're everywhere, like a mosquito."

harry grins and moves his fingers in to tickle at louis' sides. " _buzzzz,_ " he retorts.

yelping, louis pushes harry's hands off. "don't baby me. i'll be fine. go have fun. i'm going to be busy all day anyway."

"oh, yeah?" harry asks. "big plans brewing?"

louis nods. "have to catch up on LA ink."

he tries to remain perfectly calm, but harry's knees are knocking clumsily into louis' stomach and he remembers how harry had so easily trapped him the night before, pushing him down and locking him in, and he goes white.

"okay, then." harry begins to tangle up the blankets with his feet as he climbs out of bed, not mentioning how damp his underwear still is. "call me if you need me."

louis waits until harry is out of the room before he lets his mental anguish catch up to him. it takes harry a half hour to leave for nick's, and by that time, louis has decided on taking a bath because he feels too fatigued to stand up in the shower.

he hopes that's not a precursor to anything more demeaning, but he honestly can't think of anything more demeaning short of actually putting on diapers and sleeping in a crib, so he shoves it out of his head and gets into the tub. it's nice and relaxing, the water so hot on his skin that he forgets about everything from how he has to do laundry _again_ today to what the fuck is going to become of his friendship with harry.

he rests his head on the curve of the tub and tries not to think of all the bad possible outcomes, but they keep popping up in front of him, one after another. louis knows harry and nick have kissed, maybe even fooled around a bit, and their friendship seems strong. he can't tell if that's a good or a bad thing for louis, though. does that mean he and harry will never do that again and they'll be just as close, or is louis so much closer to harry than nick is that they won't be able to get past this? force them into some kind of uneasy tension?

he throws a wet rag over his eyes and counts down from ten. there's so much anxiety building in his chest he wonders if harry is right, if maybe his body is shutting down on him because of the stress. it makes sense, but it doesn't help him. even if it is true he would still have no idea what could be coming next. 

* * *

 

he's in the kitchen sorting through the cupboards for cereal when it happens just the way it always does, and it spins louis into another downward spiral of disgrace. this, by far, isn't the worst time or place for it to happen. before it's happened just before he's gone on stage and even in public once, at a shop.

he's read online before that several things can cause leaking - exercise, sex, dancing, or heavy lifting, but louis is doing none of these things in the kitchen. he's simply reaching up for a box of cereal when his sneeze sneaks up on him and before he knows it his acid wash jeans are suddenly dark wash.

" _fuck!_ " he yells. "i'm like a ninety fucking eight year old man," he says to himself as he examines the small mess he's made on the floor below. not too bad, but certainly not the kind of mess any normal twenty-one year old guy would make on _his_ kitchen floor.

just when he's finally relaxed, newly changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a tank top, he gets his second big aggravation of the day. harry comes in the flat alongside nick, both of them looking very jolly and cheerful, almost ready to spring into song.

louis is so annoyed he bets he radiates a cartoon-y red glow of anger. he supposes it could be worse, though. they could have come in five minutes earlier and witnessed louis piss himself. there's always that.

louis seethes around his cup of tea when he sees nick dragging harry along like he’s a puppy on a leash, not that harry seems to mind, and maybe that's the problem. harry and nick are like the bonnie and clyde of modern british celebrity and they gallivant all over london dressed like groupies for the kings of leon and louis hates how filthily smug nick is with the scene, the red carpets and the penthouse parties with cocaine-snuffling groupies. harry can take care of himself, but that doesn't mean he isn't easily influenced.

he’ll come swaggering into the room wearing his biker jacket and his ironic fucking argyle sweater and lean against the fridge with one hip cocked out. when louis passes him to refill his own cup of tea, he takes one whiff of nick on pure curiosity alone and finds that nick has coffee breath, in the worst, most attractive way possible.

"can i have some?" harry asks, hungrily eyeing the tea on the counter. he rushes over to louis on the flat-feet of a newborn duck, curls pulled back lazily into a beanie a similar color to what louis imagines to greatly resemble cat puke. louis fondly hands harry’s cup of tea to him as he’s clumsily pulling off one dark brown suede boot with a pointed toe. harry almost falls over approximately seven times while pulling on his other boot, but then that’s harry, which means really he’s having a graceful day.

"here, grimmy," harry says, shoving off another cup to nick.

nick starts in again about his stupid morning show on radio one and he’s all maddeningly fast moving big hands in the air and his eyes go wide and enthused while harry watches as the polar opposite to nick’s raving madness - quiet and lackadaisical with hooded eyes and louis doesn't understand their friendship at all.

while nick begins another little gossipy bit about one of the kardashians this time, his tea begins to slosh over the brim and ends up sliding in a heavenly way down nick’s stupid leather jacket. harry giggles and reaches his arm right across louis’ front to toss a wet rag in nick’s general direction, to which he takes gladly, dabbing at the tea so daintily louis begins to snort.

louis has listened to nick’s show once before during one of his more insomniatic nights - stuck in the gray matter between night and another very slow and dark morning. nick had suspiciously been making little snubs at him, which louis hadn’t thought nick would have ever cared about. why was louis so relevant to nick’s interests? why did it matter if nick didn't follow him back on twitter?

"well, young harold is quite good," nick says the morning louis is half-heartedly listening while contemplating suicide because of his insufferable inability to fall asleep. “apart from that i'm not sure i like the lot of them. one, in fact, i outright refuse to follow back on twitter," he teases. sometimes nick just comes across plain bratty.

he had said so to harry on one occasion only for harry to choke on a french fry so hard laughing that they almost had to take him to a hospital. anyway, louis knows he can be a child sometimes, but at least _he's_ got a reason to be rude to nick, since nick thinks it's well fun to single him out on the radio and make him look like a ponce.

"you know, i used to want to set you up with grimmy when i first met him all the time, but he always said you were too good for him," harry said the night he choked on his french fries.

"i don't date your sloppy seconds, hazza," louis had sniffed and walked off.

so maybe he is as much of a brat as nick.

* * *

 

 

\- the thing is - the thing is that nick is, well, gorgeous. and it's a bit annoying because whenever he's over at their flat he makes aggressively sexual kissy lips at louis to piss him off. and yeah, it works. mostly because he's a twat and louis hates him, but partly because he really wants to kiss him. 

only the more time the three of them eventually spend together, harry asking them both to record shops, nick asking them both to parties, louis asking them both to fashion shows, the more louis struggles with hating nick.

even the night he catches nick frenching harry up against the balcony of an eleven floor building he still doesn't hate nick. it's not a hatred anymore at all, more of a jealous rage. and louis, in defeated humiliation, no longer recognizes if he's jealous of nick or of harry.

this is around the time when louis' bladder problems get even worse and now upon every and any little cough, sneeze, or laugh, louis ends up at least dotting his boxer briefs in piss.

he and harry haven't been fooling around much at all, probably because harry is deadset on the fact that louis needs to start wearing diapers and louis is so fucking uncomfortable with the idea that he almost punched harry the other day for mentioning it again.

and he loves harry, he loves him so much it burns that he's making harry unhappy, but louis also loves his pride and he isn't willing to give it up just yet.

until, that is, he wets his pants in front of nick.

they're at nick's flat for once, at probably three in the morning, and louis is restless and nick is fucking shitfaced, and it's not a great combination. harry usually plays referee, but that night he's so sleepy that he nods off on nick's leather chair in front of the dimly glowing tv set on mute and is not even awoken when nick and louis start up again.

louis is sitting cross-legged facing nick on the couch and nick has his legs stretched out and feet resting on his coffee table and they're both irrational and bratty and immature, and louis knows this, he does, but he can't help it.

nick is handsy when he's drunk and he keeps trying to bait louis into a fight by groping louis' feet and squeezing his toes because he knows louis hates nick touching him, although louis lives for nick to touch him.

"tickle somebody else, why don't you?" louis says and shoves nick's huge hands away, trying not to imagine being manhandled by them.

nick scoffs in a drunken way, eyes rimmed red. "i'm not tickling you, sweetheart. if i were, you would know."

"oh, please. you're so drunk you couldn't tickle anything, you pervert."

"tickling isn't perverted, you little sourpuss." nick rolls his eyes. "how _vanilla_ must your sex life be if you think tickling is kinky."

"i meant to insinuate that you as a person was a pervert, not the action of tickling," louis clarifies.

nick shrugs, unphased. "darling, get your feet out from under my thigh."

" _no,_ they're cold."

nick sighs dejectedly and flings himself on top of louis, resting all of his weight on top of him and wrapping his arms around him in some sort of mock romantic act of intimacy that has louis pounding his fists on nick's chest and trying to push him off.

"warmer now, then, pudding pop?"

louis is about to screech loud enough for not only harry to wake up, but for all of britain to, when he feels his bladder tighten up. and it's already too late, he's already gone, he's already pissing himself with nick fucking grimshaw laying atop him with no air in between the two of them.

nick's body presses so heavily on louis' bladder that instead of merely dotting his underwear in an invisible, only internally humiliating way, louis feels like he's pissing literally for hours.

all the while, nick is staring down into louis' eyes in a strange, clouded kind of way that louis relates to his drunken state. but it's such an intimate, almost truly romantic stare that louis' eyes well up and within three seconds of his bladder letting go, can feel tears track down his cheeks.

the silence in the room is deafening.

nick doesn't move to give louis room to get up, so when louis tries to push him up once more to get out from under him, nick presses him back down. with confusion that looks, on nick, closer to awe, he says, "go on, i'm right here" in such a comforting way louis begins to cry even more.

he's at the point now where even his worst enemies are taking pity on him. what a fucking low point.

soon after he's empty, nick finally eases off and allows louis to get up. he storms out of the apartment without harry, arms crossed over his chest and face wet and red. 

* * *

 

when harry finds out what had happened, he's absolutely livid with nick and refuses to take his calls or answer his texts. nick goes so far as to beg for forgiveness on twitter to harry and still gets nothing. harry explains calmly to louis that nick ought to be apologizing to louis, not him.

"he shouldn't have known until you were ready," harry says, shaking his head angrily and knocking his shoe off his foot with such frustration that it bangs heavily into the wall and rattles the movies in their media display.

"til i was ready, haz?" louis asks in disbelief. "i never intended to tell nick! for christ's sakes, not even _zayn_ knows!"

harry's eyebrows knit in confusion. "well, sure, but you aren't dating zayn."

louis gapes at harry, trying to form some kind of response. instead, his hands just raise in the air and he struggles to even gesture what he's thinking.

" _louis,_ " harry begins, lips setting into a hard line. he takes louis' hands into his and frowns. "we're all sort of - dating each other. haven't you noticed?"

" _what?_ "

"well, i'm having sex with both you and nick and it's only a matter of time before the two of you sleep together. i just figured that eventually we would be a sort of - unit, you know? like-"

"like what?" louis gasps. "like _polygamy?_ like the mormons? _harry-_ "

"but you do have feelings for nick, don't you?" harry asks him in a low voice, almost a whisper. it's not as if there's anybody else home to hear them, but it's nice of him to try to make it seem even more private.

louis just stares in terror. he does, he supposes, but buried very deep. on the surface, he knows he's attracted to nick and he's man enough to admit that, but nobody said anything about _feelings._ "i can't - harry, don't make me do this," louis begs.

"well, he has feelings for you," harry says. "he just misbehaves when you're around because he thinks you don't like him."

"i _don't!_ " louis exclaims.

"that's a dirty, rotten lie, and you know it." harry glares at louis. "just because i'm taking your side about this pee thing doesn't mean you're right about everything."

louis moans. "how can i have feelings for someone who constantly harasses me?"

"what kind of bullshit question is that?" harry laughs, now breaking out into glee. "ask any ten year old girl!"

" _oh my god_ ," louis laments.

"i know," harry mocks, "life is so difficult when two handsome men want to have sex with you."

"how very modest of you."

harry shrugs. "you tell me you think i'm cute every day. now, if you could just tell nick that every once in a while...."

louis can feel his eyes bulging out of his head. he has no fucking idea how this is going to work. 

* * *

 

harry has suddenly gotten very harsh with louis and seems to be trying to train him like a goddamn dog. he watches louis' every move when nick is around and glares at him if louis snaps at nick.

harry says if louis can't tell nick he's forgiven explicitly then he should just be extra nice to him and prove things are back to normal, but louis keeps messing up and calling nick a tosser and a bastard and harry begins tallying up louis' personal attacks on nick on his hand one day until harry has _twelve_ pen marks on his palm and when they get home harry literally pushes a package of diapers at louis and tells him he's being punished for being unnecessarily cruel with nick.

louis stares in disbelief. "harry, i'm a grown man. you don't honestly believe you can force me into putting these on, do you?"

"not force," harry corrects, "coerce."

"i'm sorry, is this the _godfather_?" louis asks angrily. "need i remind you that you're a pop star and not a mobster?"

"now you sound just like nick," harry muses. "and i'm giving you an ultimatum. you don't get to come out with me and nick anymore until you start wearing these."

louis feels like he's been slapped. it's betrayal and it's hurtful and so many other things that he just turns away and goes into his bedroom quietly and lets himself be upset. 

* * *

 

they're still having a stand-off, but harry never said that all three of them couldn't hang out at home, so they still do. louis knows nick is perfectly aware of how harry is blackmailing him, so he taunts, "not a very good battle you're making it here, hazza."

harry rolls his eyes and gets up to get more food from the fridge.

"hey buttercup," nick says, "it was harry's idea tonight to go out dancing, but i managed to con him into staying here with the likes of you so you didn't feel left out. so i suggest you enjoy it."

"did you really?" louis asks quietly. harry was in between the two of them on the couch so now that he's gone there's this big, unoccupied space between them.

nick nods. he takes a swig of beer, then says, "how does it feel to have the two sexiest boyfriends on planet earth?"

louis can tell nick is nervous saying it, as he's drinking his beer at such an angle as to hide his face, so he tries not to say anything rude. "it feels like i wish i could go out dancing with them instead of being stuck in every night watching re-runs of that 70s show."

nick grins. "i don't want to push, love, but that can be arranged if you'd listen to young harold."

"listen to me about what?" harry asks as he comes back in the room with a fresh bowl of popcorn. he plops down with his legs spread wide, one thigh tucked against louis and one nick.

louis doesn't answer and instead flicks harry on the ear and harry yelps and nick pats harry's knee accordingly and for once louis is grateful to have nick around. 

* * *

 

they get miserably drunk again that night as a need for something to do to occupy their time and louis is so absolutely gone he actually lets himself be picked up and tossed over nick's shoulder. but when he laughs a little too hard at harry's bad impressions of alan carr he feels himself let go a bit and it must show on his face because nick and lous both glance at each other knowingly.

louis' whole world spins on it's axis as he's being dragged suddenly and pushed flat on the couch and there are big hands everywhere on louis' body, first at his waist to slide off his trousers and then another set feeling up his bum.

"nick, it's a bit early in our relationship for you to be groping me, don't you think?"

nick chuckles somewhere beside him, but louis has had to close his eyes because everything was spinning. "you love it."

louis reddens and doesn't say a word, but harry always knows what to say to embarrass him and mutters to nick, "he likes it when you grab his ass, but don't say i told you so."

" _harry!_ " louis yelps, but his head is aching and he can hear quiet laughter surrounding him and then he realizes his dick is out and everybody stops laughing and then, just as quickly as his briefs came on, something else is going back on, but it isn't underwear. louis passes out and the last thing he remembers is being kissed roughly on the cheek by nick and harry holding his hand gently.


	3. part three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nick nods. "it's the kind of thing that gives you ideas."
> 
> "oh, god," harry says with his head in his hands. "i can't wait to see where this is going."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay! i am not very dependable when it comes to these matters, i will admit. there is most likely going to be two more parts and then we're done, because it's looking like everything i want to squeeze in won't quite fit in four parts. thank you for reading!

nick sends harry off in the morning to pick up donuts for breakfast, to which harry does begrudgingly after nick takes harry's arms and winds them around nick's neck and softly kisses harry with a closed mouth _one two three_ times, then shoves him out the door.

on his short ride in the cab on the way to pick up breakfast he thinks about how wise it is to leave the two of them alone, though louis' still knocked out cold. although, this might present an opportunity for them to finally do _something_. being around their sexual tension has been making harry feel anxious _for_ them.

he's been walking around their flat in nothing but nick's crystal castles tee shirt on purpose lately to try and instigate the idea of fucking nick into louis' brain. the shirt has been in with his own laundry for about two weeks now and louis likes to poke fun at him about it because harry doesn't listen to them, which obviously means he's wearing it only because it's nick's.

"if i knick you one of his other shirts, will you shut up about it?" harry asked one afternoon, feeling satisfied.

louis shrugged, going pink. "sure."

"if you two don't have sex soon i'll break up with both of you," harry had said with a heavy sigh.

louis frowned, setting down his fork at the table. "you're the weirdest fucking person in the world. anybody else would be distraught if their boyfriend cheated on them."

"it's not cheating," harry laughed. he paused, setting down his fork as well. " _listen_ , i'll go out with zayn for the night and you can invite him over, have some fun."

"we'll probably just end up arguing all night again," louis moaned. "thursday night i tried to hug him and he jerked back so fast it scared _me_." in disbelief, louis continued. "i think he thought i was going to hit him!"

harry snorted. "no shit, you only threaten to strangle him every time you hang out."

" _dick_ ," louis had said half-heartedly, "i just meant that when you're with us he can talk to me for hours, but when you're not he can't even make eye contact with me." louis had stood up from the table to throw away his food, turning his back to harry. "let's face it, harry, i'm third wheeling here. we should cut our losses and just pretend none of this ever happened."

harry glared. "forget _what_ ever happened, lou? you haven't even kissed him!"

"how am i supposed to kiss someone who can't even look at me?" louis shouted in aggravation.

harry had stood up and walked over to louis, backing him up against the counter. "trust me, he wants to do a lot more than just kiss you." he grabbed louis' chin and forced him to listen. "he's afraid you aren't interested."

louis winced. "i guess that would sort of make sense." harry nodded with accusatory eyes. he had won that round. he slapped louis lightly on the bum before walking out of the kitchen.

he walks up to the counter to order his donuts (louis likes jelly, nick likes chocolate) when he decides that, on the off chance the two of them do get up to something, he might hang around the coffee shop for a bit longer than necessary.

when harry gets back carrying a bag of donuts and some coffee, the keys to the apartment in his mouth as he opens the door with one hand, he sees nick and louis wrapped up in blankets with no trousers on and doesn't know whether to ask for explicit details or just smirk and pass them the donuts.

* * *

 

nick asks harry to go get breakfast not because he plans on hooking up with louis, but because he needs some time to think. he's been wondering a lot if this was the right thing for them to do. he stares at louis as he sleeps and can't help but think that maybe harry had pushed him into this.

maybe louis wanted harry and thought he couldn't have him unless he also dated nick. if that's the case, nick is going to be heartbroken. last night he'd helped harry slip a diaper onto louis and tuck him under the covers with them on the sofa. in a strange way, it felt so _natural_ to him. he wants to feed into louis' pissy attitude by treating him like a child. it only adds up.

nick is deep in thought for the next few minutes, thinking of all the ways he could punish louis for behaving like a spoilt brat - spanking him, making him sit in a wet diaper, having louis suck on a pacifier or-

"bit early for an existential crisis, grimshaw."

nick rolls his eyes and looks to louis, who is not wearing the smug expression nick expects, but rather a fond and sleepy one. his hair is soft and matted up in the back and he has a bit of stubble, but manages to still look so young.

"are you sure you want this?" nick blurts out, catching louis off guard. "because if you're in this just for harry, i'll understand. you can still bail if-"

louis frowns. "i thought _you_ were in this just for harry," he admits wearily.

"why?" nick asks with cinched eyebrows. he unconsciously scoots closer on the sofa to louis.

louis looks down in embarrassment. "it's going to sound stupid, but i tried to hug you the other day and you, like, pulled back like i was going to punch you."

"did i?" nick asks, smiling. "must be because you're such an abusive arsehole."

louis glares. "you know you could have had your hand down my pants by now, but instead you're going to just sit there and piss me off until i'll _never_ want to sleep with you."

nick laughs loudly, making louis shove him in frustration. the more louis tries to get nick to fall flat on the couch by shoving him, the more nick laughs and pretty soon he's got tears in his eyes. "that's cute, tomlinson. if you keep it up, you might be able to knock me over by christmas of 2015."

"you fucking bastard, why can't you just kiss me and be done with it?" louis finally stops wailing his tiny fists at nick's arms and chest when nick stops laughing and grabs them.

" _ssh_ ," nick soothes.

louis' face is so close to his their noses are touching. his eyes are open and wide when nick leans in just a bit, winding his arm around louis' waist and pulling him up into his lap. the blankets are tangled between their legs so nick can't feel louis' skin on his. strangely, that makes everything very chaste.

" _nick_ ," louis whines, hands falling down to grab the blankets near nick's hips. nick still holds on to them tightly. he strokes over louis' wrists with his thumbs and can see louis slump in closer, so their noses rub. he waits for louis' eyes to shut before he presses a light kiss to louis' mouth, then pulls back an inch or so. louis subconsciously follows with his body, so nick keeps kissing him chastely until louis starts to perk back up to his usual self and tries to open nick's mouth up.

before nick notices, they're frenching, louis sucking nick's tongue and trying to scoot even further up on nick's lap. that's when they hear the crinkle of the diaper nick and harry had put on louis in his drunken stupor the night before.

louis' eyebrows cinch as he pulls back and looks down at himself, though the blankets obscure everything. "what's that?" he asks cluelessly.

"um," nick says, sounding guilty. "it's just that - last night you were so drunk we thought you might, you know, need to go in your sleep and-"

louis' mouth drops. he looks horrified. "you don't mean -" he pulls at the blankets until he can see himself. humiliation flashes across his face. his hands come up and cover his eyes like he's trying to hide from himself. "i can't believe you both thought-"

"well," nick interjects, "it's not full, is it?" he pulls louis' hands away from his eyes.

louis' eyes widen in horror. "i don't know."

"why don't you check?" nick asks calmly. he tries to rub louis' hands to soothe him.

louis shakes his head. "can't."

"can i?" nick says. when louis says nothing except stares, clearly overwhelmed, he takes his hand palm side up and slips it past louis' diaper. the back of his hand presses against louis' dick, but when nick gasps, it's not because louis' hard. it's because the diaper is _very_ wet and _very_ heavy.

he knew in the back of his head, of course, that some part of him liked when louis had pissed himself against nick back at his flat that night when harry had fallen asleep. but this being so much more _real_ \- the warmth of it suggesting louis had peed right before he'd woken up and the way, when nick pulls the blankets back a bit, that the diaper has gone yellow in the front - both overwhelms nick with terror and a longing urge to keep touching it.

once louis catches his bearings, he starts to stand and clumsily step away from nick. " _jesus_ ," he says softly. "i need to change."

"let me help." nick doesn't even know what he's doing.

louis looks torn. "i - okay. _fuck_."

he's standing in front of nick with a completely lost expression, in one of his normal black scoop neck tee shirts and a yellowing _diaper_ , for fuck's sakes. it hugs around his tan thighs obscenely.

nick's mind short circuits and when it cuts back in louis is sitting next to him on the couch again, looking concerned. "nick, what the fuck? did i freak you out? are you okay?"

"yeah, i'm fine, it's just - that's really fucking sexy is all. is that terrible of me to say?" nick asks, feeling so cruel for making louis' health problem about his own arousal.

louis just looks confused again. nick has noticed he has a habit of making louis look confused. "are you fucking with me, nick? because i can't _do_ this right now, okay?" he looks away, to the door, maybe hoping harry will walk in.

nick shakes his head. "no, i swear, i wouldn't. come here."

"why?" louis asks, sounding close to tears.

"louis, come on, sweetheart. sit on my lap. _trust me_."

to nick's surprise, he does. maybe it's how vulnerable he is, but he listens to nick more in that moment than he has in the month they've been hanging out. this time the blankets have been pushed to the side and nick's only wearing his jumper from the night before and his briefs, so when louis sits back down on nick's lap, the diaper crackles again.

it's disarmingly hot, so indecently sexy to see louis so terrified by the sound. he pulls louis by his shirt closer to kiss his forehead sweetly, rakes his fingernails up and down louis' strong thighs on either side of nick's lap. nick rolls his hips up and groans, the diaper crackling again, louder than before.

louis goes breathy, eyes squinting shut like he's in pain. " _shit,_ " he curses.

"mmm," nick murmurs, one of his hands sliding from the back of louis' thigh to slip under his diaper and grab louis' ass. louis backs into the touch and cranes his head down to sloppily kiss nick again. nick sucks on louis' tongue and gets his other palm on louis' ass, rocks up into his wet diaper and digs his fingers into louis' ass to pull him closer.

louis whines, a high pitched choking sound, and grinds back on nick, his dick hard under the thinning wet material of the diaper. nick groans, pulling back from the kiss to lick up louis' neck. louis speeds up, rubbing himself onto nick, pressed so close to nick's dick that it almost hurts except for the wet diaper making the friction lessen so nick feels like he could do this all day if it wasn't for the little noises louis kept making, clouding up nick's head.

the diaper crackles so loudly in the dead silence of the room that nick knows he was fucking gone from the second they started. he gets his hands around louis' hips and helps him slide dirtily up and down, again and again, until louis comes shaking like a leaf and grinding still so hard that nick gets off right then, feeling louis' hard dick through the thin material against his.

louis is still panting and in nick's lap when harry comes home. at first, he looks like he might faint. then, he bursts out into a roaring laughter, hand covering his belly as he cackles for ten minutes. 

* * *

 

"so, what did you guys do?" harry asks innocently the next day in the passenger side of nick's car. "i want details. very... detailed details."

nick snorts. "louis didn't tell you?"

harry raises an eyebrow. "would you expect him to?"

"no," nick admits. "do you think that's because he didn't like it?"

harry grins, taking his sunglasses off and sticking his feet up on the dash. nick swats at them mindlessly. "grimmy, shouldn't _you_ know if he liked it?" he asks playfully. "weren't you _there_?"

"oi, shut up!" nick yells. "i don't like this attitude you're getting lately. just because you're a big pop star-"

harry chuckles. "are you embarrassed to tell me?"

"maybe," nick thinks. "it's a bit kinky."

harry grimaces. "by your definition of kinky i'm not sure i'm ready for this."

"is this about you wearing women's underwear again?" nick rolls his eyes. "because if so i've told you about seventy two times i was _joking_."

"well, it can't be much worse than the first time i hooked up with him. we basically got off in a puddle of his pee." harry says this very nonchalantly.

nick gapes. "that's - what happened with us."

"really?" harry asks. "he must like it, then."

nick nods. "it's the kind of thing that gives you ideas."

"oh, god," harry says with his head in his hands. "i can't wait to see where this is going."

"it's not his fault he can't hold it. maybe this diaper thing is something we should go with for now. maybe even, you know, baby him a bit more." nick says this all with a hint of discomfort.

harry leans over and kisses nick's cheek. "you can tell me. i'm all ears."

"well," nick sighs, "he's getting weaker, have you noticed? he doesn't want to leave the house much and you said he's not calling back any of the boys."

"right," harry agrees slowly. "so...."

"so i don't think he's fit to be taking care of himself, harry. i think we should, like, do it for him."

"take care of him?" harry asks softly. "like parents?" he pauses. "how far do you want to take this?"

nick shrugs. "i think we'd be great to him." he turns his head away from the road to look at harry. "humor this kid stuff. plus, it's hot for us too. think of all the roleplay," he says cheerily. "we can put him to bed and then have quiet parent sex in the room over. i've always wanted to do that."

" _parent sex_?" harry laughs. "you idiot."

"so that doesn't turn you on at all?" nick asks gravely. "the idea of louis, who's normally a human tornado, sleeping in a crib. wearing a diaper we put him in...." nick trails off. "fucking you so hard in your bedroom that he can hear."

"jesus, nick," harry breathes. "maybe you're on to something."

"is _everybody_ secretly this kinky or is just us?" nick wonders.

harry shrugs. "dunno. it only matters that louis is."

"let's hope to god he is." 

* * *

 

they get back to the flat and louis is nowhere to be found. harry thinks maybe he's in the shower, so they go into his bedroom to check, but he's in bed, asleep.

"it's the middle of the afternoon," harry voices. "he doesn't normally nap." he paces back and forth above louis. "what if something's wrong?" he's panicking, nick can see it in his eyes. "what if he _really_ needs a doctor and we just play it off like-"

"hey," nick says, grabbing harry's shoulders and keeping him from pacing, "he's okay. he's just exhausted. he's always looking after you lot and being the grown up and now - he's just too tired to be."

"but a doctor might-" harry starts.

"no," nick says softly. "it'll only make things worse. louis would be devastated. he wouldn't speak to us for weeks."

"but-"

"harry, we can do this. i promise." nick kisses harry once on the mouth. "nobody loves him as much as we do. all he needs is some time. i guarantee you in a month or two he'll be good as new."

harry nods in agitation. "do you really think so?"

"yeah," nick says softly. he puts his hand over harry's chest. his heart is beating so loudly nick almost starts worrying about harry's health. "we've got to be confident. if louis doesn't think we're serious he won't let himself rest. that's all he needs, harry, okay? a little time to rest."

"yeah, yeah," harry mumbles, pacing again.

nick sighs. they can play good cop, bad cop if harry can't get his emotions on track. he knows in his gut if they don't _force_ louis get to the point where he can let himself be taken care of then he'll be dealing with the consequences forever.

"what do we need to do?" harry asks with frenzied eyes.

"don't worry." nick walks up to harry and kisses him again. "i'll buy some things. just look after him. give him a bath if he won't get in the shower." harry looks at him with wide eyes, still obviously in a panic.

"i'll be back tomorrow, okay?" he takes harry's chin and kisses him again. "don't look at me like that. i'm not leaving if you're upset."

harry shakes his head. "i'm alright. just get what you need to and come back."

nick leaves in a hurry. he doesn't know where the hell he's going to get this stuff. he's worried about louis and he's worried about harry. he thinks this blind terror might be the kind of thing a dad and husband might go through every day. he wonders what the hell he's gotten himself into.


	4. part four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "don't you want to be here when i tell nick how good you've been all day?" harry asks, flipping through a magazine indifferently. 
> 
> louis perks back up instantly. "i've been good?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i bet you thought i would never finish this! and yet, here i am. sorry if the point of view changes become a bit confusing. i tend to flit around with this story a lot, because i think it's important to get everyone's thoughts shoved in there. 
> 
> the next part is the last.

nick had dropped the both of them off, pulling his car sneakily to the back of the building, but nobody can fool zayn. he'd seen both harry and louis stumbling out of the car wearing last night's sweatpants.

zayn watches with a little smirk, lips twitching around his cigarette like he's trying not to laugh. one of his feet is resting back on the wall and he leans against it with a pompous stance that louis knows to be equal parts genuine and ironic toughness.

harry ducks his head and walks right by zayn and through the back door, happy to pretend he doesn't see zayn. louis isn't in the place for more than two minutes and he's got a mic on the neckline of his shirt. he moves to follow harry into the studio and feels zayn grab his arm from behind to stop him.

"what?" louis spits out, enraged. his voice is so sharp against the little microphone clipped just under his collar that it screeches throughout the entire studio. several exec's whip around, frightened, to pin-point where the sound had come from. louis quickly places his hand over the mic.

"so, what are you two gonna, like, toss a coin for him?" zayn asks.

"excuse me?" louis asks, squinting at zayn.

"no? rock, paper, scissors, then?" zayn laughs.

" _well_ ," harry shrugs playfully. he looks to louis with a huge grin.

louis punches harry in the gut. "what did you tell him?" he whispers loudly.

"that you and grimshaw greased the pipe." zayn raises his eyebrows delightedly, looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody else is around.

louis shoots zayn a sickly sweet fake smile. "i didn't hear. must have missed it on tmz."

"i think that means he forfeits, harry," zayn continues. "so, i would say you're the lucky winner."

louis sulks all day in someone else's director's chair and tries not to throw a hissy fit when a woman comes over to shoo him out of it. it's not as if he has to _compete_ against harry for nick's attention. god, he's not that desperate. he just likes being the center of attention sometimes. he folds his arms over his chest childishly and scowls at every person who walks by him and nearly attacks liam when he asks louis later on if he's is taking his loss hard. 

* * *

 

by the time they're done for the day, louis is so exhausted that he's sluggish, dragging his feet heavily across the floor, just wanting to have a lie down.

he slumps to the floor and tries to play it off like he's texting with his head down, but really he's trying to have a covert nap. he can hear harry humming along to some song, massive socked feet stepping right over louis' head to get past him.

his feet smell awful, so he tries to bat at harry's foot to trip him. harry hums sadly, backing up and leaning over louis so when louis opens his eyes all he sees is harry's face peering down at him.

"get out of my face," louis complains, scrunching up his nose. he raises one of his arms lazily to drag it across harry's neck.

"you want to go see nick?" harry asks him, feigning indifference, but pity is written on his face.

louis scoffs. " _no_ , what's he good for?"

harry ignores him and reaches down to haul louis off the ground from under his armpits. louis protests weakly, head flopping backwards like a fish.

"let's go to nick's," harry suggests, muttering into louis' ear soothingly. he lets louis lean against him - dead weight. "wrap you up in blankets and put the kettle on? hmm?"

louis clamps his teeth shut together. he wants to walk off alone and call a cab and just go home by himself. but, in humiliation, he's having a hard time not buying into what harry's selling.

"nick will so pleased when he comes home to see you've been a good boy all day," harry hums, rubbing louis' shoulder gently. "he'll have you all to himself tonight. i've got interviews set up all night with niall, remember?"

louis wants to sneer, say something catty about nick's age and tell harry off for talking to him like he's a fucking scottish terrior, but all that comes out of his mouth is a frustrated sigh. would it be so terrible to be a good boy? wouldn't that make harry happy? wouldn't that make nick like him more? it's almost like harry can read his mind.

still, part of him wants to elbow harry in the stomach and stalk off. but another part of him, an incredibly nauseous part of him, imagines getting to be cuddled by harry and nick. it's the strangest thing - harry saying nick will be so pleased - like nick's his _dad_ , or something. louis balks.

that's stupid. he doesn't care about being good for nick. he wants to laugh it off, but he can't help picturing nick coming home from a long morning of doing the radio, kissing harry hello and picking louis up in his arms and telling him he's proud of him.

he wants it so bad his insides ache - he's so easy when it comes to people fawning over him. he's disgusted with himself. he slumps down in harry's arms and lets harry support him. harry nods like louis' agreed, though he's said nothing, and quickly kisses the back of his ear as they leave. 

* * *

 

harry's not sure if louis realizes everything he does is inherently childish. seeing louis sitting in the director's chair, for example, was hilarious. louis' legs wouldn't reach the ground, they'd just swing around. this added to the way he was glaring furiously at his phone only served to make him look like a disgruntled child.

he constantly looks like he's waiting for someone to come up to him and help him down.

harry thinks about these things as he guides louis into nick's flat, both of them tripping over puppy on the way in the door.

louis immediately goes to the couch and crawls under one of nick's scratchy wool blankets. harry sits down beside him and pulls louis' head into his lap, gently running his hand through louis' hair.

"not going to stay awake to see daddy come home?" harry asks slowly, carefully.

louis doesn't really stir, just looks up at harry with droopy eyes and then smushes his nose into harry's thigh as if to say _no_.

harry feels a wave of relief and satisfaction ripple through him, finally seeing louis cave. nick has all these big plans and big ideas for the three of them, but harry isn't sure louis' pride will ever buckle enough to allow him to sit in a car seat or use a pacifier.

there are things louis never got to do as a kid - he's told harry all of them. he didn't get to go to disney until he was an adult. harry imagines himself sitting in the passenger seat with nick driving, them holding hands over the console. louis would be in the back, asleep in his car seat.

when they park and harry gets out of the car and goes to unbuckle louis in the back, louis would be so excited. he'd say something like _love you dad_ and would perk up in his car seat, boosting himself up to kiss harry and harry would have to block louis from other people in other cars seeing because he's just a little boy, his and nick's little boy.

harry moans, rubbing one hand over his eyes. he's already so invested in this. it'd hurt him so much at this point to see louis go backwards with this instead of forwards. 

* * *

 

"you need to take a bath," harry mutters into louis' ear an hour later. nick still isn't home and if harry wants nick to come home to a clean louis then his time is now or never.

he honestly can't tell if louis is feigning sleep or not, half of his face hiding behind nick's blanket. he hears louis make a disgruntled noise and then louis reaches up and pulls the blanket completely over his head.

harry's not sure if he should be treating louis like his best friend or his kid when louis is sleep vulnerable. on one hand, if he can get away with tricking louis into calling him dad, that would make harry happy. but he doesn't want to risk it if louis is in a bad mood.

he and nick have been loosely discussing nick having a pseudo father role to harry's pseudo mother role. which, loosely, also makes nick his pseudo husband. harry presses his lips together, still finding this whole thing humorous. not that he doesn't want to see nick's face when he walks through the door to find louis smelling nice with his hair gel all washed out.

harry sighs and straddles louis' shins, bracketing his knees on either side of louis' calves. he slides one hand up under the blanket and tickles louis' foot.

louis squeals, eyes peering over the blanket. "stop!"

harry grins. it's still his same old louis, just maybe a little brattier. "your socks are coming off."

louis immediately tries to pull his legs up, but harry's big hands come down to hold his ankles down.

" _harry_!" louis says, laughing when harry tickles his foot again.

harry hums. "dunno if that's my name, actually."

louis' eyes widen meaningfully. he looks about ready to be sick, clutching the top of the blanket with white knuckles.

harry knows how tough this must be for louis. he's always had built up resentment issues with his father and displaced feelings of rejection from his stepfather because of how old he'd been when the guy had moved in with him and his mother. he didn't expect this to be easy. he hopes to god louis knows he and nick would never abandon him.

harry lets go of louis' ankles and leans over louis to gently kiss his nose, before resting his forehead to louis'. "i'm going to get you into the bath, anyway, though. just because you're cute."

he manages to tug off one of louis' socks before louis starts screaming, raising his other leg in the air so harry won't be able to reach it. which, harry thinks, is silly. louis is tiny and harry can obviously still stick his arm up without struggling and slip his sock off.

but, he thinks louis wants to play around a little, so he makes a real show of struggling to reach louis' foot. truthfully, he's now aiming on tugging louis' shirt off his head. when louis figures out where harry's hands are, hugging his hips, he goes sort of starry-eyed.

"anything you want to say?" harry asks softly, barely above a whisper. he hovers over louis, palm splayed over his chest with louis' shirt rucked up.

with a terrified expression, louis tugs harry down by his shoulder and hides his face in harry's neck. he bites harry's shoulder.

"do you think i'm going to put you in the bath with your trousers on?" harry asks. he's thankful louis actually doesn't put up a fight, finally flopping back down and staring up at harry strangely.

"you know i love you more than anything in the world, right?" harry asks softly. "and nick would never leave you in a million years."

louis stays still as a statue for at least a full minute, with pursed lips, before he opens his mouth. "i love you, too," he chokes out, "dad," he says with a heavy swallow, eyes still wide.

harry feels his chest tighten. he pulls louis up into his lap to stand up with him. "that's right," he says, fighting down the urge to throw louis back on the couch and fuck him.

on his way to carrying louis to the bathroom, harry can feel louis hard in his white briefs, sticking up straight against his stomach. harry slips a hand between them to gently rub the head through his underwear while his other hand stays under louis to hold him up.

harry swears he only has his hand on louis' dick for maybe twenty seconds before louis makes a muted choking sound, legs tightening around harry's waist, gasping hotly into harry's ear. harry shivers, kissing under louis' chin. he gets him into the tub easily, since louis' exhausted again. 

* * *

 

"he'll be home _any_ second," harry promises.

louis is so anxious, harry swears he's going to levitate off of the couch with how badly his leg is shaking. he keeps looking at the door, scared again for some reason, and then back at harry. harry thinks maybe it's louis' intense fear of rejection flaring up again.

"maybe i should just go-"

" _no_ ," harry interrupts. "absolutely not."

louis scowls. "i'll go home if i want to."

"don't you want to be here when i tell nick how good you've been all day?" harry asks, flipping through a magazine indifferently.

louis perks back up instantly. "i've been _good_?"

harry doesn't get a chance to respond, as nick's burst the front door open.

"boys?" nick shouts, clanging around the kitchen.

"we're in here!" harry calls back. he looks to louis, who's in the middle of a panic attack, judging by his behavior.

nick comes into his living room while shrugging off his leather jacket, standing in front of them with chinese take-out in his hands. "brought home some dinner."

hearing nick say that he brought it home, harry doesn't know why, but it makes him unbelievably sappy. he's not sure if nick's meant it in the way harry's taking it, but it sounds an awful lot like nick means they're a proper _family_.

"looks great," harry says, smiling, standing up to kiss nick on the cheek. "you're all stubbly. how was work?"

nick looks at him with an easy grin. "much like my five o'clock shadow, it showed up way too soon." he looks over harry's head to louis and stares. "sorry to leave you two so early. how are you feeling, tiger?"

harry knows what louis' reaction will be before he thinks louis does. he can sense it coming a mile away. louis doesn't respond to new things very reasonably. then again, the last time harry can remember louis responding to something new in a breezy way was when they got their first record deal and louis said " _what a relief_ ".

"um," louis says, toying with the blanket bunched up at the side of him. "me?"

nick looks at louis like he's something to eat. harry feels all too comfortable, with maybe only a very slight shame, getting to watch this as an uninvolved third party. he's been curious for what seems like months now just how louis behaves when he's alone with nick.

"yes you," nick grins. "why don't you change into pajamas while we get some plates out?"

harry almost gapes with how quickly louis stands up. it's as if one second louis was on the couch and the next he was halfway down the hall.

"well, i've known louis for four years, but i never knew he could teleport," harry says dryly. he's only marginally insulted. just marginally. he can only imagine how much begging and pleading harry would have had to do to get louis to put on his pajamas this early in the night.

nick frowns. " _what?_ "

"never mind." harry rolls his eyes fondly. 

* * *

 

nick had left out several things for louis to wear, all folded up nice and neat (thanks to harry) on his bed. he'd expected louis to go for his normal sweats and a tee shirt. if nick was lucky, maybe louis wouldn't bother with a shirt at all.

but louis had come out in one of nick's dirty tee shirts that had been thrown on the floor, something he hadn't put through the wash yet. that paired with black underwear nick knew positively belonged to harry created an ensemble that practically begged to be ripped off of him.

thank god harry had been there throughout dinner, because nick hadn't been sure he could keep his hands off louis. he looked soft and warm and kissable, especially with his hair so soft and boyish without any product in it.

two minutes after harry's left the flat and nick turns to louis, itching to touch him all over. his cute bum in particular. "you sleeping in the guest room?"

louis looks up to him from under long lashes, cheeks going pink. "don't like to sleep alone," he manages softly, cringing at himself.

nick had loved sleeping with the two of the night before - but harry had been in the middle, giving louis some time to get used to everything in nick's bedroom. nick had spent the night smelling the back of harry's neck and looking over him and watching louis as he slept. he did toss and turn a bit, and it made nick want to reach out and wake him, just in case he was having a nightmare.

without warning, nick slings louis over his shoulder and carries him down the hall. when nick sets him down on the mattress, louis' eyes are bright and he's smiling. he sits with his hands in his lap, twisting them nervously around. nick's never seen anyone look so pretty before not doing anything even remotely interesting.

nick leans down to kiss louis once, lightly, before he sits beside louis. "it's too big for you," he announces, pointing at the shirt, like he's displeased. he wonders what kind of reaction that could illicit from louis. "and you've been a dirty boy, putting on harry's underwear when you know it's my night with you."

there's something a little improper with suggesting that harry and nick were using louis like a plaything, trading him off like divorced parents, when it couldn't be further from the truth. he didn't want louis to think quite like that, especially coming from something of a broken home. but it doesn't seem to bother louis.

he's sat on top of nick's lap suddenly, wiggling around on top of nick, gasping. nick wonders if there's something there, under louis' subconscious.

"when he sees you next he's going to know straight off how much fun you had with me," nick continues arrogantly, licking his lips. "he'll probably be mad by how much i'm spoiling you right now. you were supposed to be put to bed already."

louis moans, " _please_."

nick pretends to be confused. "please, what?" he inches his fingers along louis' bum.

" _please, daddy._ "

nick claps louis lightly on his bum before reaching his hand over to his nightside table. he coats his fingers in lube, so much it's probably ridiculous, but nick wants the slide to be easy. he watches louis nervously eye his hand as nick wets it. although louis is mortified from letting the magic word slip, nick is ecstatic. he's never been so excited to finger a boy without any plans whatsoever of getting anything in return.

he has the most amazing view ever, with louis looking like an angel above him with his fluffy hair and pink cheeks. he also wears nick's clothes so well nick wants to just let him have the shirt. it really does pool over louis' collarbones.

"this is what i was thinking about all through dinner," nick admits casually, finally working two fingers inside of louis with a generous amount of lube. "a wet little boy, sitting in my lap, with the sexiest arse i've ever seen."

louis works his hips so fast, nick barely has to move his fingers. he feels louis' hair brush up against his chin as louis leans forward on his elbows and pants, moving up and down with little finesse.

"come on," nick coaxes, pressing a little kiss to louis' head. "daddy loves it when you talk."

louis shudders, mewling. "please, can you - another one?"

nick nods, quickly jabbing a third finger beside his first two. louis makes a pained sound, but doesn't stop moving. his dick is probably leaking inside harry's underwear, rubbing up against nick's chest.

nick runs his other hand up louis' arm gently, as louis pants. right after louis comes, nick says, "such a good boy," and he means it, truthfully. he's got such a good little boy. it's too bad the rest of the world doesn't know it.


End file.
